The South Walton Conservation and Development Trust gained support of Sen. Robert Harden, who offered to help get a measure proposed and passed to make the plan successful.

Two contracts for the purchase of 13 additional acres at Topsail Hill were approved by Gov. Lawton Chiles and the Cabinet, costing the state $2,766,600.

Another 111 occurrences of 10 rare plants were found in South Walton, bringing the total number of occurrences of these species to 223.

Two-thirds of the people who responded to The Walton Log’s telephone poll didn’t think changes were needed in the makeup of the staff or board of the Conservation and Development Trust.

10 years ago — 2004

The new traffic light at the intersection of County Road 395 and Lake Forest Drive in South Walton was equipped with Opticom that allows emergency vehicles to send a signal that changes the light to green.

The Florida Department of Transportation set a deadline of 2006 to begin repairing the badly rutted stretch of U.S. 98 between Sandestin and the OkaloosaCounty line.

High-fashion couture giant Saks Fifth Avenue signed to open a two-story Off 5th Outlet store at Silver Sands in the spring.